Pencil
by GyreGimble
Summary: She was annoying. He wasn't talking. She spent about ten minutes getting the nose right, then left. It was still the oddest encounter between a Guardian and the man that the guards had ever seen. If you see pairings, you're looking wrong


**Pencil**

**By: GyreGimble**

**(W.I.T.C.H. is © Disney and whoever else owns it.)**

The interaction was one that would be whispered about in the mess halls for as long as one witness was still working in the cell.

It had been another long, boring day, standing guard. Protecting Meridian from the certain doom that would befall if just one of the people in there broke free, as usual. A bit before the latest shift ended, a girl, still in her teens, came walking up to the door.

Of course, at closer look, it wasn't just a girl. The wings on her back and long black ponytails told the guards on duty otherwise. It was the Guardian of Air, Hay Lin.

The girl smiled cheerfully at the two, and said, "May I come in? I'll just be a minute." A guard then noticed she was carrying a small notebook and a wooden object with a sharpened point. It was strange, but he knew that nothing could damage the cells with just that.

The guardian entered after he opened the door, humming some tune she'd heard on the radio a bit before, and waving as he closed it behind her. Hay Lin then walked through the long hallway, looking for one person in particular.

There he stood, blonde hair still as long and oddly-styled as ever, still wearing robes as if he were still King. For once he was not standing at the front of his four-walled accommodations, but sitting in the back, eyes almost glowing in the shadows.

He wondered what one of the people that put him in this foul place would be doing here. If she'd wanted to gloat, right after the battle would have sufficed. Not for as long as he'd been here.

But something perplexed him. She didn't say anything, didn't smirk or talk, just sat down, opened to a fresh sheet of paper, and started using the small sharpened twig to make lines on the paper. The Air Guardian would occasionally glance up, squinting at him from behind the shadows he was laying in, then go back to the sheet.

After about ten minutes of this, she held it up, saying in an oddly merry but genuine tone.

"How's this? I don't think I got the nose right. It's hard to tell at the angle you're sitting at."

Hay Lin saw him move forward, coming out of the shadows with a slight change in expression. More confusion than the death-glare he'd given her earlier. It was still very blank. There was something wrong with that, you know. She'd seen it on TV, photos of criminals. This blank look in their eye. Limited changes in expression. The best sign of a nut-job who wouldn't break after killing someone. His eyes were even worse than when he'd been on the throne. Then, he'd had goals and schemes. (She wouldn't use the word 'hope' for him. Way too positive of a way to put 'killing my sister to gain her power') Now, there was nothing. No shine, no evil glint. Just the dark green color and pupils staring at the sketch she'd just drawn.

He didn't say anything. He didn't want to, didn't need to, and they both knew that. What could he say? 'That's pretty good'. No. He didn't want to admit that the little girl who'd played a part in defeating him that she was good at anything, even if she was quite talented. Finally, after a bit of silence, he gave her a look that asked why she was drawing his face.

Hay Lin smiled a bit. No praise, but the fact that he'd been polite enough to not tell her it's awful, even in this predicament, was saying something.

"Will and Cornelia-" Wait, he didn't know who those were. "-the redhead and the blonde… are writing a book about our adventures. No one would believe it's true on Earth, so why not? They'll think it's a fantasy book or something. And, yeah, Will said I should do a few sketches because I'm good at it, and it was going pretty well, but…"

She faded for a second, putting the paper down on her lap and looking at it. He almost wanted to say thank you for a brief bit of silence. The girl talked too much.

"…For some weird reason, your face wouldn't come out right. I dunno what it was, but it just wouldn't. So I needed a live example. And, well, here we are." She shrugged a bit, looking like she was holding back an embarrassed giggle. As if she'd forgotten the time of some date and came a few minutes late. But that wasn't what it was. She was coming here to sketch him so his "face would come out right" so he'd be the villain in a new line of books on Earth.

He didn't reply to her, only scoffed slightly, as if a peasant had annoyed him with a stupid question. Man, that guy was a snob even when _he _was the one sitting in a dungeon full of self-pity. Which was why she didn't pity him. He didn't deserve it, he didn't want it, so why waste it? She then realized how offensive it must be to be given a first-impression to everyone on Earth without ever being there. People were going to hate him without even seeing him before.

"E-Elyon's going to be in it, too."

She said quietly, as if this would be some sort of comfort.

The man finally spoke. It was hushed and rough, as if he hadn't spoken in a while.

"This doesn't concern me, girl. Go on before you're late for something else."

There wasn't harshness in it, but exhaustion. As if he was too tired to be evil anymore. No cruel emphasis on 'girl'. Just a placeholder, since he didn't know her name and didn't want to call her a 'Guardian' at the moment. She was just an annoying girl, for all he wanted to care.

She smiled a bit, getting up and walking away.

"Right, 'bye."


End file.
